Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

Review: Rasputin, the Mad Monk / Cert: 15 / Director: Don Sharp / Screenplay: Anthony Hinds / Starring: Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, Francis Matthews, Dinsdale Landen, Richard Pasco / Release Date: October 22nd

Hammer have been a bit busy of late knocking out their classics on Blu-ray and DVD and the latest batch includes this rather curious slice of Hammer Horror: Rasputin, the Mad Monk (1966). Sorry, did I say ‘horror’? Well, on paper, you could argue that this is historical melodrama but ultimately we’ll always be filing this under Hammer’s horror output. Not only was it made at the height of their horror period (in fact, back to back with Dracula: Prince of Darkness with whom it shares some of its cast and most of its sets – Castle Dracula becomes Saint Petersburg’s Winter Palace) but it is very much in the same style. After all, this is a telling of the Rasputin myth rather than any serious attempt at history, which is fair enough when you consider Rasputin was still a fairly mythical character in 1966. The film’s plot is largely based on Felix Yusupov’s 1927 book in which, among other things, he explained his involvement in the murder of the Russian mystic, Grigori Rasputin. However, his account is now pretty much regarded as a load of politically expedient tosh to cover up British Intelligence’s role in discrediting and disposing of a man at the heart of Russian power who wanted his country to pull out of World War I. Fascinating, I’m sure, but you’re quite right, I’ll get back to the film (in which Yusupov is substituted by Ivan as a central character).

There’s everything you’d expect from a mid-‘60s Hammer here; from the luxurious colours to the pretty good, if occasionally hammy, acting. In fact the cast of Hammer regulars are all in fine fettle with some excellent performances from Francis Matthews, Barbara Shelley, Dinsdale Landen and Richard Pasco. But the real attraction of Rasputin is a magnificent piece of scenery chewing from Christopher Lee; he’s obviously having a ball and clearly pleased not to be doing Dracula for a change. To be fair, if you’re casting Rasputin and Christopher Lee is available, you’re unlikely to be doing any other auditions; he was born for this one. Looking like a young Saruman (back in the days when he was at Hatfield Polytechnic and formed his own, unsuccessful, prog rock band), Lee is 6’ 3” of licentious intensity with mad staring eyes and a voice that is utterly convincing as a sexual dominant who can get a posh girl like Barbara Shelley to do anything he likes. You can believe that this is a man who wants to give God ‘sins worth forgiving’, as writer Anthony Hinds so eloquently puts it for him. It’s just such a pity that they obviously got a stunt dancer in; what would we give to see Big Chris do the Barynya?

There are some minor criticisms here though. On at least one occasion Lee makes an entrance with a stance and a fanfare that just makes you think he’s Dracula in a wig; under the circumstances director Don Sharp should have been a bit more careful. Despite the best of intentions, you never get that feeling of ‘epic’ with a Hammer budget and the trappings of horror are also a bit too incongruous: There is an early fight that results in a very rubber-looking severed hand that gets bandied about in a distinctly non-historical manner when Rasputin is admonished by his abbot back at the monastery. In typical Hammer fashion, they paid for that hand and they’re damn well going to get their money’s worth out of it. The studio’s habits had obviously been hard to shed. But then this works to the film’s advantage in a tremendous scene in Rasputin’s darkened house with Peter (Landen) and Rasputin stalking each other among bottles of acid in the pitch black. This would be the highlight of the film if it wasn’t for a particularly delicious confrontation between Rasputin and the foppish Ivan (Matthews) as the latter uses his sister as bait to lure the dastardly monk to a trap. Shame that the big fight at the end was edited to leave Ivan’s later dishevelment a bit of a puzzle.

All in all it’s an enjoyable romp and a must for any fan of Christopher Lee. But if you’re a real fan of Hammer there’s another point of interest. Michael Ripper may appear to be absent but listen carefully to Bartlett Mullins as ‘Little Father’. Yep, for reasons best known to Hammer, they got Michael to overdub his lines. Perhaps they knew that, one day, some of us would be waiting to ‘chug a beer’ whenever he made his inevitable Hammer appearances and, as far as I’m concerned, voice-overs count. Oh, and did you know that, as a young boy, Christopher Lee met Felix Yusupov? Of course he did. I expect Yusupov talked about it until his dying day.

Extras: Among the usual fare there are also two excellent documentaries – Tall Stories: The Making of Rasputin, the Mad Monk and the surprisingly interesting Brought to Book: Hammer Novelisations.

Review: Top Cat / Cert: U / Director: Alberto Mar / Screenplay: Timothy McKeon, Kevin Seccia / Starring: Jason Harris, Chris Edgerly, Bill Lobley, Ben Diskin, Matthew Piazzi, Melissa Disney / Released: 15th October

Never trust reviews of children’s movies. The problem is that they’re nearly always written by adults. That’s why films like the Toy Story trilogy are (rightly) lauded while gems like Cars (2006) are only regarded as so-so. The Toy Story movies were packed with references and jokes that were aimed entirely at adult audiences that enabled families to enjoy them together and made sure that the critics showered them with praise. But poor old Cars was aimed entirely at (young) children and left adult critics unable to see how its simple story of life priorities was ideal for those of a certain age and that its use of vehicles as characters perfectly suited a child’s view of the world; especially a child on the autistic spectrum for whom these mechanical characterisations can actually be easier to relate to than people, animals or even Space Rangers. All of which makes Top Cat a particularly tricky thing to review.

We’re all filled with a rosy sense of nostalgia at the mere mention of Top Cat so the idea of sitting through a modern reimagining of this much-loved telly show of the ‘60s is a pretty attractive one. But what you may not know is that Top Cat was particularly popular in Central America where it is still repeated to this day; hence this Mexican production which has been translated into about every language imaginable and sold across the globe. From the opening credits, as the familiar theme song plays and we see T.C. indulge in his familiar fake limo passenger routine and the old coin-tied-to-hand tipping gag, you’d be hard-pressed not to raise a smile of familiarity. But all this goodwill soon wears off.

For a start, there is something odd about the animation. Apparently it uses cheap Flash animation but (despite reading about it on Wikipedia) I can’t really tell you what that means other than it’s going to look a bit rough. However, after a while you’ll begin to notice that while the backgrounds are actually 3D models (in that the figures sit in the sets); the characters themselves use regular 2D animation. While this was just about acceptable with 3D glasses in the cinema, on your flat telly, it’s just plain odd. But let’s say you can get over this. Top Cat was based on the Phil Silvers Show and the scheming T.C. and his brilliantly named gang of Spook, Choo Choo, Fancy, Brains and Benny are still the streetwise retro New Yorkers you know and love. Except that here they have smart phones and make jokes about Windows Vista. It looks like it’s supposed to be set at the same time as the original series but it clearly isn’t. In fact the whole plot is based around the idea of cats vs. technology as the villain replaces the police force with robots and criminalises the whole city in a story that reminded me of Judge Dredd’s The Day the Law Died. I suppose there’s only a limited number of stories in the world but, trust me, Top Cat and Judge Dredd are not interchangeable characters and nor are their stories. Mind you, Dredd in the Dibble role could have possibilities but I’m digressing enormously.

But surely none of this matters. Top Cat is just supposed to be funny and the story can’t really be that important even if it does have to carry the movie’s 392 minutes of running time (or so it seems when you’re watching it). But the humour is simply all over the place. Attempts at cleverness sit next to the plain silly, interrupted by misplaced pieces of surrealism. It seems like it was written by thirty or forty people who have never met and had no means of communication during what must have been a tortuous writing session. Yet IMDb tells me there were only two screen writers involved. Neither is Mexican so maybe they had to just write a new script to layer over a movie that had failed to translate well. There seems to be little other explanation for this hideous lesson in how not to make entertainment.

However, I am apparently wrong. You see I just checked with my eight year old son as to what he thinks of it. But he wouldn’t tell me as he was utterly engrossed in his tenth viewing of the damned thing. He loves it. I was trying to get him to proffer an opinion on the film’s artistic influences or an analysis of the mise-en-scène but all he could do was roll around the settee in rapturous laughter at the sight of a giant gorilla smashing up the surrounding neighbourhood of T.C.’s beloved alley. Personally I thought the scene rather reinforced my point that the spirit of Top Cat might have been missed here but, apparently, it’s just funny.

This is, of course, why you shouldn’t take much notice of reviews of films written by people who were never the intended audience. We haven’t got a clue. If you want to watch this with the kids then be prepared to visit your ‘happy place’ for the duration but your best bet is to stick the kids in front of it while you go and do something useful like knock out a review for Starburst on the laptop. It’s a mess, but if your age is in single figures, it would appear that you’re not going to care. On the other hand, they’re right about one thing: Giant gorillas are quite funny.

Extras: None

Rating from Me:

Rating from My Son:

Review: Cube / Cert: 15 / Director: Vincenzo Natali / Screenplay: Andre Bijevic, Vincenzo Natali, Graeme Manson / Starring: Maurice Dean Wint, David Hewlett, Nicole de Boer, Nicky Gaudagni / Release Date: October 15th

A low-budget Canadian film about maths. Doesn’t exactly sound like a recipe for success, does it? But Cube, now appearing on Blu-ray for its 15th anniversary, also happens to be a classic sci-fi thriller. It’s beautiful, scary, weird and as perfect as an equation.

The setup is genius. Six characters, dressed in army-drab boiler suits, wake up to find themselves trapped inside a series of interconnected boxes. These include Quentin (Wint), a burly cop who quickly becomes the group’s alpha male; Holloway (Guadagni), a tightly wound doctor who badly needs a cigarette; Leaven (de Boer), a cute, bespectacled student; and limply defeatist Worth (Hewlett), who moans that he “wasn’t exactly bursting with joie de vivre” even before winding up in this surreal prison.

Opinions differ as to why this is happening to them. Quentin thinks it’s all some “rich psycho’s joke”, while Holloway, a conspiracy theorist, points the finger at a nebulous military-industrial complex (“No one’s ever going to call me paranoid again!”). One thing’s for sure, getting out won’t be easy, and not just because of the bewildering scale of the three-dimensional maze; there’s also the small matter of the deadly booby traps lurking in some of the rooms.

Eventually, as they learn more about their mad environment, Leaven notices underlying patterns and starts to apply mathematical logic to the problem. Best not say any more about that as we don’t want to spoil the fun, but the script (by director Vincenzo Natali and others) develops these twists and turns with consummate elegance, intercutting them with the slow fracturing of the group and the revelation of individual secrets.

Most movies inevitably date in some way or other, even if it’s only in small details, but Cube looks like it could have been made yesterday. Glowing like Chinese lanterns, the giant boxes through which the characters troop give the film a striking visual coherence. The SFX are sparing but impressive, with some nerve-tingling slice ‘n’ dice and a jolting face-melting moment. And, working in what were presumably quite confined circumstances, cinematographer Derek Rogers does a spirited job of throwing around the camera for a gutsy, dynamic feel.

A far cry from the plastics who usually inhabit low-budget shockers, de Boer brings grit as well as sweetness to the part of Leaven. Meanwhile, Hewlett – known to fans of Stargate Atlantis as the lovable Dr. Rodney McKay – delivers a typically smart, nervy performance.

A whiff of symbolism about the human condition only adds to the mythic appeal of a story which has been imitated – most notably in Saw – but never bettered. And anything that makes maths cool has to be good.

Extras: None

Review: The Devil’s Business / Cert: 18 / Director: Sean Hogan / Screenplay: Sean Hogan / Starring: Billy Clarke, Jack Gordon, Jonathan Hansler, Harry Miller / Release Date: Out Now

An intimate, atmospheric and chilling horror film from British Director Sean Hogan that works extremely well in the perimeters of its small budget. It boasts two particularly good lead performances and a tightly wound and smartly worded screenplay influenced by Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter.

Pinner (Billy Clarke) and Cully (Jack Gordon) are two hit-men sitting in wait at the residence for their next assigned victim Kist (Jonathan Hansler). Pinner is an old hand at this game and recites the dos and don’ts to his young, ambitious apprentice Cully through dialogue that intrigues and flows extremely well. With the Pinter influence it does have the feel of a play and, along with the dimmed lights and long conversations, this is a film that comfortably dwells in its creepy ambience. Pinner tells a story about a dancer that not only engrosses but adds to the eerie atmosphere and plays an important part in building tension and introducing Pinner’s character. Billy Clarke is captivating in his role and an actor whose films I now look forward to watching after such an excellent performance. Jack Gordon, who is fast becoming a name to watch (standing out amongst his peers in other horror films Panic Button and Truth or Die) nails the likeable fool with another confident performance as he successfully shifts from arrogant to nervous wreck as horrible events unfold.

Amongst all the chatter and darkened rooms there is something sinister at play. When the two are interrupted by a sound outside they investigate and find the remnants of a satanic ritual. Special effects from Dan Martin are gruesomely conceived, sloppy entrails and bloody bits laid out like the devil’s vomit. What is Kist involved in and how will the two fare against the black magic at work here?

This is slow burning, involving, verbose horror that ends on a playful and almost comical note that will either be embraced or laughed at. It aims at homage in the last ten minutes to films like Don’t Look Now and Phenomena that fans of horror will almost certainly get but may not like. Still, it stands up to multiple viewings and will appeal to a broader audience than many other small budget horrors thanks to its strong script, direction and performances. Amidst a slew of hackneyed, ill thought out horror the occasional gem shines like a bright beacon and this truly is the business. I can’t wait to see what Sean Hogan comes up with next.

Extras: None

Review: Ultimate Zombie Feast / Cert: 18 / Director: Various / Screenplay: Various / Release Date: Out Now

This unusual 2-disc boxset gathers together over five hours of independent zombie movies from around the world, some only a few minutes long, a few of them near feature length. It’s a brave venture, but it inevitably raises the question – just how many explosive head-shots and messy gut-munchings can you sit through before you start to get bored? Answer: a LOT.

Of the shorter films, the most successful are those which embrace their smallness. In other words, they don’t try to do everything, and instead home in on some specific aspect of the zombie apocalypse. Not Even Death is a good example of this, the tale of a devoted husband who keeps his zombified wife chained up in the basement in hopes that she might someday snap out of it. The Skin of Your Teeth shows a group of survivors enjoying a brief idyll on an isolated farm, but you know it can’t last and pretty soon those walkers will come shuffling over the horizon. Meanwhile, Dead Hungry gives us a cabin in the woods siege from the point of a mostly ‘armless zombie called Jed.

Turning to the longer films, the undoubted standout is The Book of Zombie, in which a bickering couple find themselves under attack from a rabble of zombie Mormons (very much like ordinary zombies except for their intolerance to caffeine). It’s very funny, and boasts an excellent cast. Also very impressive is Zomblies, a slick, pacy Dog Soldiers-style actioner shot on Dartmoor.

From Spain comes the accomplished and touching Zombies and Cigarettes, in which an outbreak in a shopping mall provides an opportunity for the meek protagonist to blossom into a hero. The all-action Paris by the Night of the Living Dead is about two young French coolsters who know exactly what to do when their wedding is interrupted by flesh-eating ghouls. How not to tackle a zombie (get him in a headlock and tickle him with sticks) is perfectly illustrated by Savages, an Indian film which benefits from stunning locations only to be let down by histrionic performances. Best of all, though, is the Danish It Came from the West, a hilarious zombie Western with puppets.

Not all of the films are winners. With the ones that don’t work, the special effects are usually good, but poor sound and wooden acting take their toll, as do scripts which, uh, bite off more than they can chew. Despite this, Ultimate Zombie Feast has a cumulative impact which is more than the sum of its gory parts, providing as it does a vivid demonstration of just how deeply the living dead have entered into modern folklore. And you’ve gotta love all those head-shots and all that gut-munching.

Review: We Are the Night / Cert: 15 / Director: Dennis Gansel / Screenplay: Jan Berger and Denis Gansel / Starring: Karoline Herfurth, Nina Hoss, Jennifer Ulrich, Anna Fischer, Max Riemelt / Language: German with English subtitles / Release Date: October 15th

For Frankenstein it was 1965, but for the Wolfman we can place it with reasonable accuracy at 1981. If we include zombies then it wasn’t until 2002 but for the poor old mummy it was as long ago as 1932. Yes, these are the exact dates, as calculated by our expert team of horror film scientists, that these classic movie monsters ran out of ideas.

But what, we hear you ask, about vampires? Yes, vampires don’t give up so easily; they’re always looking for that new angle. The current bout of vampire movies is hardly recognisable from those early days of the animalistic Max Schrek or Bela Lugosi’s ‘man on his way to the opera’ routine. In fact, of late, vampire flicks even seem to have forgotten they’re supposed to be horror films at all.

Right from its jetliner heist opening, We Are the Night (2010) certainly comes across like a film which thinks it’s found a couple of new ideas. Louise (Hoss) is a vampire who lost her true love centuries ago but is still on the look-out for a replacement. That’s a new idea? Surely they can do better than that? Oh well, over the years she’s recruited Charlotte (Ulrich) and Nora (Fischer) as potential soul mates but neither appears to be the one she was looking for. You see, there are only female vampires. Male vampires are extinct; either killed by humans or finally finished off by the female vamps because they were ‘too loud, too greedy and too stupid’. Ah, now that’s a vaguely new spin; genius, really. Keeps the misandrists happy as well as any blokes who bought this ‘German, lesbian vampire movie’ for entirely the wrong reasons; Bill Nighy and Michael Sheen won’t be making any unwelcome appearances to ruin their fun (although they’ll still be in for a disappointment if that’s the sort of thing they were looking for). So Louise is still on the pull and ends up transforming street urchin Lena (Herfurth) who is on the run from Tom (Riemelt), the-most-useless-policeman-in-Europe.

This is where the film begins proper as Lena is shown the ropes of her new ‘life’. Once she’s over the whole killing-people-to-live thing it all appears to be a ball as Louise, Charlotte and Nora show her just how ‘loud, greedy and stupid’ lady vampires can be with their endless clubbing, shopping and, in the case of the particularly irritating Nora, deejaying. There’s even some sociopathic fast car action just in case the lads in the audience aren’t quite getting to grips with the fact that this is the bit of the movie where we see the ‘fun’ side of being a vampire. So nothing particularly new for the genre here either. But would you Adam and Eve it? There’s a downside to being a vampire. Who knew? It’ll come as no surprise that apart from that unpleasant business of killing people, there’s also the practicalities of sunbathing to be dealt with and all those difficult consequences that arise through the overrated gift of immortality. Charlotte is definitely not into this side of vampirism which is presumably why she sits around smoking a fag and looking miserable while her girlfriends behave like hedonistic airheads. In fact, this is done rather well with the former silent movie star watching her old films in which, of course, she looks exactly the same. In fact, there’s actually rather more to Charlotte’s downer on immortality which, while not particularly original, is at least handled in a genuinely touching way.

This is really where the strength of We Are the Night really lies. While it hasn’t really got any new ideas to speak of, it’s actually done so well that it comes across as being far fresher than it really is. The action scenes are very Bourne and even the cinematography is pretty good. There’s even some reasonable humour as we find that 21st century German security guards are about as gullible as German sentries in old British war movies. At least, we’re assuming that was humour. We think it may have had a plot but to be honest it was so lightweight we’re not sure we can recall it. But all in all it’s actually just quite enjoyable; nothing too clever, just something that seems to be aimed at those who have grown out of Twilight. While We Are the Night shows there might still be life in the vampire genre yet, it does rather look like our scientists might be able to fix a date when the vampire movie reached the same state as its colleagues. We’re predicting they’ll calculate that it was sometime in 2009 but this reviewer has a hunch it might be even longer ago than that.

Extras: ‘Making of’ documentary, deleted scenes and two alternate endings.

Review: As Good As Dead / Cert: 18 / Director: Jonathan Mossek / Screenplay: Erez Mossek, Eve Pomerance / Starring: Andie Mcdowell, Cary Elwes, Brian Cox / Release Date: Out Now

Blamed for the murder of a religious leader, Ethan (Cary Elwes) is held hostage by the followers. He must fight to prove his innocence or risk endangering those closest to him. Difficult choices lie ahead when each person believes what they are doing is right. However, it is the choices made in people’s past that comes back to haunt them.

The film takes its time so the viewer can relate to the characters, how they live and the people they care about. This is appreciated as it makes sympathising with them much easier as events unfold. As the story progresses, the relevance of the themes in the film do strike a subtle chord. Religion, violence and feeling safe in your own home, are themes which can be more frightening than a masked killer wielding a chainsaw. They plague the mind with strange scenarios and how situations can escalate for the worse.

There are some genuinely shocking moments throughout the film, and once all the cards are on the table, the pace of the film gets a welcome nudge. The script allows no time to be wasted, meaning there are no unnecessary shots or throwaway scenes. The acting helps with this a lot, however there is one gripe. Andie Mcdowell’s accent seems to be more cartoon villain than authentic. She has a presence on screen but the film would’ve been served best if she spoke less. The supporting cast does do a good job overall, with the highlight being Brian Cox. The music complements the film nicely, as it adds tension when necessary.

It’s always unpredictable how a film that so easily slips under the radar will fair. However it’s a pleasant surprise when that film proves to be enjoyable. As Good as Dead is a solid thriller which deserves a watch.

Review: Prometheus / Cert: 15 / Director: Ridley Scott / Screenplay: Jon Spaihts, Damon Lindelof / Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, Logan Marshall-Green, Sean Harris, Rafe Spall / Release Date: Out Now

Alien fans wanted the origins of the Space Jockey and the Xenomorphs, the characters in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus wanted the origin of life and the secret of immortality. Except Captain Janek, who just wanted a paycheck. Of course, priorities change.

The planet they land on in search of this maintains the dark, nightmarish H.R. Giger inspired world we’ve become used to. Unfortunately Prometheus lacks the claustrophobia, tension and suspense that made Alien a success, and the all-out action, quotable lines and uneasy laughs of Aliens are missing too. There are occasional throwbacks, i.e. the ‘something’s getting close’ beeping from Aliens, but there is rarely a satisfying pay-off. There is one iconic scene involving a bit of impromptu surgery, and a visually stunning scene of pixilated Space Jockeys running down a tunnel, but the movie suffers from the ‘best bits were in the trailer’ syndrome. Religious and philosophical debate seem to drive the narrative instead, which works very well with Fassbender’s android David (who steals the show), but ultimately disappoints as a whole.

This DVD/Blu-ray release carries the tagline ‘questions will be answered’. The main questions Alien fans have been asking for the last 33 years were already answered, but only at the expense of more questions being created. This has prompted talk of a sequel, although whether this was actually intended or not is open to speculation. Fox want one, Scott has more or less confirmed it will happen but not necessarily with him, and history looks set to repeat itself again.

The major disappointment with the home video release itself is that it is not the rumoured Director’s Cut. There are 34 minutes of deleted footage, but these are not integrated into the film and have to be watched separately as part of the extras. The most notable of these are an extended beginning, and an ever-so-slightly ‘different’ ending. There are other bits, such as the video shorts of David and Peter Weyland’s TED conference that were released as part of the film’s viral marketing campaign, all accessible via a spaceship computer style interface. Even worse, those without Blu-ray will be further disappointed as there are only 10 minutes of extra footage and nothing else on the normal DVD release.

Sadly, like the film itself, this release just doesn’t live up to its own hype.

Extras: Alternate Scenes / Featurettes / Viral Videos (all Blu-ray only) / Deleted Scenes

Blu-ray Review: The Company of Wolves / Cert: 18 / Director: Neil Jordan / Screenplay: Angela Carter, Neil Jordan / Starring: Sarah Patterson, Angela Lansbury, Stephen Rea, David Warner / Release Date: October 22nd

Before he hit his stride with Mona Lisa and The Crying Game, Neil Jordan made this unusual movie, an essay in the sort of lush Gothic artificiality to which he was to return with much greater commercial success in Interview with the Vampire. Co-scripted by Jordan with Angela Carter and drawing on her excellent short story collection The Bloody Chamber, it has as ingenious Chinese box structure: Rosaleen (Patterson), a modern-day girl, has a feverish dream in which she’s a Little Red Riding Hood-like character living in a village in the woods, and in that dream we hear various tales about the bad things that happen when you stray off the path… 

Source of most of these tall stories is her garrulous and moralistic Granny (Lansbury), who warns her about the wolves that prey on young girls, the ones who are “hairy on the outside” and the others, much deadlier and harder to spot, who are “hairy on the inside”. Eventually, Rosaleen has her own encounter with a werewolf, but it doesn’t play out quite the way it does in children’s books.

The look of the film is highly theatrical, a throwback to Hammer and Mario Bava, most of the action taking place on shallow, crowded sets matted with dead leaves and veiled in cobwebs and mist. But the quaint pictorial charm is undercut by plenty of graphic gore and eye-popping SFX. These culminate in several set-piece man-to-wolf transformations that employ what were then state of the art animatronics and prosthetics, including a great moment when a man tears his own face off and another when a furry muzzle comes bursting, phallically, out of a character’s mouth.

With all this going on, you might expect the acting to get swamped, but young Patterson keeps the attention firmly on herself, stumbling prettily through the woods with wide eyes and an insolent pout. The standout turn, though, comes from Lansbury (with a perm and John Lennon specs), cheerily trotting out all kinds of blood-curdling lore in a lilting Irish brogue.

Inevitably, the film now seems very much of its time, but Angela Carter’s sexually charged take on the werewolf story is still enjoyably provocative (the counter-argument to Granny’s hysterics is put by Rosaleen’s mother, who asserts that the beast in men meets its match in women). And, while Jordan’s direction can’t quite catch the sensuality of Carter’s prose, it delivers more than its fair share of strange and magical moments. With its rich visuals and an ear-caressing score by George Fenton, this is a movie that was meant for Blu-ray, and it deserves to be remembered as one of the more ambitious and thoughtful British films of the ’80s.

Extras: Jordan Commentary / Trailer / Stills Gallery / Behind the scenes dossier

Review: The Castle of Cagliostro / Director: Hayao Miyazaki / Screenplay: Hayao Miyazaki / Starring: Yasuo Yamada, Eiko Masuyama, Kiyoshi Kobayashi, Taro Ishida / Release Date: November 12th

Owing more than a little to Maurice LeBlanc’s sleuth of the same name (a subject of lawsuits at the time), the gentleman thief Lupin was a popular cartoon character on Japanese TV in the ’70s. But this, his second film outing, is especially memorable because it was the feature film debut of none other than Hayao Miyazaki. It’s not a perfect movie, but for Ghibli fans, this is where it all began.

Things get off to a rollicking start with a caper in Monte Carlo. Escaping in his trusty turbo-charged Fiat Uno, Lupin discovers that his swag consists of counterfeit bills. Deciding to track down the source of the forgeries, he follows the trail to the small, San Marino-like principality of Cagliostro, only to become embroiled in an exciting three-way car chase as he encounters some hoodlums pursuing a 2CV driven by a damsel in distress.

This turns out to be Princess Clarisse, last scion of the impoverished royal family, who is about to enter into a forced marriage with the ruthless and venal Count Cagliostro. The bulk of the movie consists of Lupin’s attempts to liberate her from the Count’s castle and expose the evil-doing therein, while also keeping one eye out for some missing treasure and evading capture by the tenacious Inspector Zenigata. Luckily, he has gizmos galore to get him out of trouble, as well as several handy helpers – Fujiko, his female counterpart, who has already infiltrated the castle in the guise of a lady’s maid; Goeman, a traditional samurai; and strong-arm man Jigen, who wears a pork pie hat and has an Abraham Lincoln beard.

It’s not a great story, but it gives rises to plenty of thrills and spills, leavened with a good dose of humour. There’s lots of scurrying across rooftops, a fair bit of cartoonish slapstick, and a brilliantly conceived underwater sequence involving the castle’s labyrinthine hydraulic system. A steam launch makes an appearance, as does a bright red autogyro, early signs of Miyazaki’s abiding interest in weird and wonderful modes of transport. And there’s the fun of seeing these and various other creaky old vehicles shooting around at top speeds.

Some of the character design is pretty basic, but the film has a nice, airy ambience thanks to the lake and mountain backdrops and the attractively spindly architecture. True, it’s all a wee bit shallow, with scarcely a trace of the emotional punch of the later films, but it has a compensating freshness and joie de vivre, and some might even prefer this jaunty, lightweight Miyazaki to the one who, in Princess Mononoke, seemed so burdened with ecological concerns. A boisterous and welcome addition to this series of Ghibli releases on Blu-ray.

Extras: TBC